An Elopement Annoucement
by chocoluvr
Summary: A little over a year after their wedding, James and Lily visit her parent's house where Petunia has a suprise for her family. She later confides another secret to the women in her family after she is confronted with it.


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter

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About a week after her first anniversary, Lily Evans-Potter was over at her mom's house helping her to get ready for the big family dinner later on that evening. Her mom wanted to talk to her about her concerns for Petunia.

"Lily, I think that Vernon broke up with her today. She hasn't even come home from her job," her mom said.

"What makes you think that?" Lily asked.

"Well, your grandma Cecilia has seen him around town with another woman. She told me that he looks at her the way that James looks at you," her mother told her.

"What would grandma know, she's old," Lily shrugged.

"Well, she may be old but she was young and in love once," her mum replied to that remark.

"Well, James and I will try to be understanding of her feelings. We won't try to get all lovey-dovey in front of her, though I don't see what the big deal is," Lily answered.

"Well, Petunia has always been jealous of you. She has wanted what you have ever since you received your letter from that school. Besides, she is the only one of her university friends who isn't married. She feels left out and she doesn't like the fact that you got married before she did," her mom informed her.

"But why, I mean we weren't going to wait just to make her happy. What did she want us to do, live together?" Lily replied.

"I don't think that's what she wants, but I do think that she's disappointed. But that's enough talk about Petunia. What did you and James do for your one year anniversary?"

"Well he took me to this nice romantic restaurant. He even gave me this necklace of a lily and a stag together, representing our love," Lily told her mother dreamily.

"Well, I understand the lily part, but why a stag?" her mother asked.

"That's the animal that represents his family. Every wizarding family has one," Lily answered.

"Oh," her mom replied, not understanding the way of her world. Just then, the doorbell rang and James entered his in-laws' home. Lily greeted him with the warning that they needed to tone down the displays of affection for her sister's sake.

"But why?" James asked.

"Well she may be breaking up with her boyfriend and she doesn't want to be reminded that I'm married and she's not" Lily answered her husband.

"Why should that matter to her anyway?" James asked.

"Well, I don't know but mum told me that she always wanted to be a wife and mother, like she used to want to have magical ability like I have. She even wants me to be nice to her because I have the things that she wanted," Lily informed him.

"Fine. I'll do it for your sake. But I think I deserve to get rewarded later," James said with a smirk on his face. She punched him lightly on the arm for suggesting that.

A few minutes later, Petunia walked in with her boyfriend Vernon looking like he really didn't want to be there.

James whispered to Lily when he saw Vernon, "I thought that they were going to break up."

"I thought so too" Lily whispered back to her husband.

"Do you mind getting mom and dad out here? We have an important announcement to make before dinner," Petunia asked her sister.

"No," Lily replied. She went off to get their parents and grandparents together for Petunia's big announcement. After the entire family gathered in the living room, Petunia looked excited as she saw the entire family gathered around.

"Well, what did you need to tell us?" her father asked.

"Well, Vernon and I just got married today right after I got out of school, so I'll be moving out of the house today," Petunia told them looking smug while Vernon didn't look too happy about it.

"Why would you do something like this? I thought that you always wanted a big wedding," Lily asked.

"Well, I thought long and hard about it, and I decided that I didn't need to have a big wedding in order to be married, besides we can have a party celebrating our marriage later on," Petunia answered her sister.

"Are you pregnant?" James asked in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"That's none of your business," Petunia reprimanded him in a harsh tone.

"James, you shouldn't ask such questions" Lily reminded her husband.

"Well, I think that its time that we start dinner," their mum told them after recovering from the shock of Petunia's announcement.

"That's a good idea," Vernon responded.

The family went into the dining room. After dinner their mother and grandmother asked to see Petunia in the study to talk to her some more about her marriage.

"Well, what I want to know is why you would go off and get married without letting us know" her mother told her.

"I don't know, we just felt that the time was right," Petunia answered her mum.

"Yes, but I thought that you always wanted a big wedding."

"Yes, but sometimes you don't always get what you wanted, anyway I'm married now and that's all that matters," Petunia replied.

"Well, I know that you would never lie to me, but I noticed that you didn't have any wine with dinner. Petunia, are you pregnant?" her grandma Cecilia asked.

"Yes" Petunia admitted hesitantly.

"Sweetie, if you're pregnant you don't have to marry him. You have more options than what I did in my day. Besides, when he finds someone that he really likes he will resent you for trapping him into this marriage. Plus, he could divorce you if that happens," her mum told her.

"Well, at least I'm married now and I'm not going to grow up and be an old maid. I've heard people whispering about it behind my back," Petunia told them as confidently as she could, but with a hint of insecurity.

"Well, I married your grandfather because I was pregnant and we only had two options in those days, marriage or adoption. I wanted to keep my baby so I married your grandfather," her grandmother said.

"You never told me that, though you probably told Lily," Petunia grumbled.

"I never did tell her that exactly, but I can tell you that I did tell her that I once loved someone else. However, I was pregnant and he had left town to marry someone else. I then married your grandfather," her grandmother explained wistfully as she reminisced about her past.

"Were you pregnant with the other guy's baby?" Petunia asked.

Cecilia hesitated. "Yes, but in those days in order to avoid scandal, my father married me off to a son of one of his business associates. I found out later couldn't have children. That's why he was willing to marry me under such circumstances, so both of us benefited. He got an heir, and I gain the respect of the other nobles," she sighed.

"Well, does William know?" Jessica, Petunia and Lily's mum asked together, suddenly joining in on the conversation. Cecilia glared, but continued on.

"No he never knew, since my husband's name is on his birth certificate. I don't want you to tell him unless it's a life or death situation," Cecilia told the two younger women.

"Did you ever regret having dad?" Petunia asked.

"No, but the timing was wrong, for you see, his real father showed up almost a year later trying to get me to leave with him and to take the baby with me. Your father was only a couple of months old at the time," Cecilia informed them.

"Why didn't you go with him, did you have a sense of loyalty to granddad?" Petunia asked.

"Well, he told me why he left me and I didn't believe him. He told me that he was taken by a witch who had him under some sort of love spell or something. I didn't believe him since I didn't think that there was such a thing as witches and wizards. That is, until Lily got her letter from that school saying that she was a witch. That's why I spent so much time with her on her school breaks, because she gave me the peace of mind that Tom may have been telling the truth," Cecilia continued her story.

"Did you try to find him after you found out that he wasn't lying?" Petunia asked.

"Yes, I did. It was too late though, because he had been dead for over thirty years" she answered, sighing heavily.

"Do you mind me asking why you got pregnant in the first place?" Jessica asked.

"Well, I was seeing my friends getting married and having babies, I was afraid of being an old maid. For you see in those days, young women weren't given the opportunities that they have today. If you were single and never married you were seen as someone to pity and I didn't want to be pitied," Cecilia answered her daughter-in-law.

Jessica then turned to her daughter Petunia. "Is that why you got pregnant and married? Or is it because you were so jealous of Lily's marriage that you would do anything to be married yourself?" Jessica asked malignantly.

"No, it's not that," Petunia responded indignantly.

"Well then, what is it?" Jessica asked.

"Why are you assuming that I got pregnant on purpose anyway?" Petunia asked.

"Well, I've known that you've always wanted to be a wife and mother. You even kept living here after university when your other friends found flats on their own," she answered.

"No, it was an accident, but I decided to get Vernon to do the right thing and marry me. Besides I got what I've always wanted, not in the way that I've wanted but I did, which hardly ever happens to me," Petunia replied sullenly.

"I hope that you know what you've gotten yourselves into," Cecilia warned.

"We do" Petunia insisted right before she left, leaving both women flabbergasted.

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**Author's Notes**: Please read and review. 


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